Misery / SDS "Pain in suffering / Future stay in the darkness fog" split Lp 1991

Has the gigantic amount of punk music available on the web conditioned our ears? Has it paradoxically impaired our attention and led us to hear rather than listen to the songs? The number of releases is staggering and more than ever, your average punk-rocker is aware that there are noise-making comrades all over the world. And yet, I am sometimes under the impression that there is also a uniformisation of punk-rock. Let me take an example. If a modern band states that it is influenced by the noisepunk bands like Chaos UK, Disorder, Confuse and so on, you can be pretty sure that it will sound in a very specific way (a lot of distorsion, reverb on the vocals and meticulous drum rolls). Not that the bands claiming this legacy are bad (some of them are actually really good), but what bothers me is that you can be influenced by a band or a genre in many different ways. In that instance, rather than the three aforementioned aspects (or are they rules?), you could put forward as influences the sense of humour of the Bristolians with their silly songs or the insanity of late Confuse or the proper chaotic parts of Chaotic Dischord or the genuine sloppiness of the Mexican bands and so on. What I mean is that two persons can be listening to the exact same song and yet be interested by different things, each will remember the song in his or her own way and the listening experience will evolve through time. The first time I heard Amebix, I didn't even notice the synth while some people are instantly shocked by it (but don't trust their judgement, they suck by and large). To get back to the original question, has the internet changed our peculiar listening capacity? I don't really have any answer to that (but then, on a sunday, who has any answer?).

I started thinking seriously about that issue when I decided to write about the Misery/SDS split. If you are into crust at all, you already know this record, which is probably the best crust split lp ever and one that is highly sought after (and pricy...). If one wanted to think about this record schematically, it is basically the Antisect/Amebix split Lp that never happened (how great would it have been though...). If Amebixes' influence on Misery has always been great, SDS were HEAVILY into Antisect in the early 90's. The Antisect influence is absolutely deliberate on every level, be it the music, the lyrics or the artwork. SDS even went as far as refering to themselves (or was it to this record? Hard to tell) as "Ghost of Antisect"! Many other Japanese bands have walked that thin line between respectful tribute to their influences and goofy fanboyism. Fortunately for us and in spite of a lack of any subtlety on the part of SDS, their sonic tribute, their declaration of love to Antisect is fantastic and does not sink in the depth of stale and soulless mimicry.

So why all these questions at the beginning of this post you might ask? Well, as influenced by Antisect as SDS were, they were certainly not the only ones at that time: Extinction of Mankind (slightly anarchonistic as they formed in 1992) and Coitus have also been living proofs that Antisect were the best band ever (I am getting emotional now...). BUT, and that's where my opening meditation comes from, none of these three bands sound like each other. Although it is obvious to any trained ear that they share common influences, they didn't take the same elements from them, they didn't affect their sound in the same way. While EOM took the gloomy path with top crusty guitar leads, Coitus chose to go tread on the rocking and groovy, bass driven, "Celtic Frost quatting in Hackney" way, while SDS went for a thicker, colder, harder-hitting sound that would define Japanese crust for the years to come. Funnily enough, the three bands that SDS thanked in terms of influence were Antisect (really? hadn't seen that one coming), Amebix and Discharge. The exact three bands that were chosen for a cover Ep by the mighty Extinction of Mankind and Warcollapse. And yet, do these bands sound like each other? You see where I am getting at.

This Lp is SDS' second record after their Ep "Never arise - In raid there is no life" (an Amesect medley if there is one) and one can notice a significant progression between both. You can feel that the band knew exactly what they were doing in terms of song-writing and sound. The thing that made SDS stand out was the guitar sound. To offer an accurate description of the guitar here is quite a difficult task indeed. It has this obvious dry and distorted thickness. It doesn't aim primarily at heaviness but it is still remarkably powerful. It has a floating, flowing quality but is used with grand focus and control. When it goes full on metal, there is that typically ferocious SDS sound, bordering on insanity, that they would fully use in their later years. In terms of intent, I can imagine what the guitar player wanted to do if you compare his part and Lippy's on "Out from the void" (despite the sound of the Ep). The vocals are not of the growling kind, rather they are shouted with heart and passion, sometimes on the brink of breaking, which makes for a nice balance with the perfection of the guitar.

"Future stay in the darkness fog" is a real record in that it tells a story: there are longer, slower songs with plenty of breakdowns, changes in riffs and texture, guitar solos, spoken words, and also shorter, faster, harder ones. The SDS side adequately ends with the long epic track, "No dream story", and each of the six songs is memorable. "Out from the void"'s era Antisect is of course the primary influence here and you will recognize borrowed riffs and drum parts here and there, followed shortly by Amebix (especially the first song "Tomorrow"). Careful listeners should be able to spot Sacrilege and Axegrinder moments as well while the faster songs remind me of Nausea. However, name-dropping may not be very significant in defining SDS as, in spite of the obvious and proud intertextuality, they definitely manage to create their sound, atmosphere and texture. Absolutely classic stuff. The artwork looks more like Antisect than Antisect themselves. Never afraid of the possiblity of being ridiculous, SDS have used a very similar interlacing plant frieze bordering the central drawing of their cover. Of course, they couldn't help using the classic Antisect font either. The aesthetic heart of the cover is a dove-shaped drawing (Nausea anyone?) which looks like a mural almost. This drawing has a bleeding baby, a gasmask-wearing kid, animals dying from contamination (I suppose), mutant groping hands and the peaceful dove is even shedding a tear. The style is highly similar to the amazing poster you can find in the Antisect Lp, only with less talent and inspiration. Do I think it still looks great? Of course I do! The lyrics are not particularly elaborate and suffer from the "broken English syndrome" that seems to strike contagiously Japanese punk bands. They remain, however, understandable and the odd word associations could be said to hold a poetical innovative value. The underlying theme appears to be the discrepancy between dream and reality, a utopian future and a hopeless present, in the guise of time and nature metaphors that reflect this opposition. After this record, the band recorded an unreleased Lp in 1992 entitled "In to the void" (no kidding) and took part in several compilations before changing their style with the "Scum system kills" Ep in 1996 which marked the beginning of their "motocrust" phase, replete with madness-inducing metal riffs, fast as fuck tempo and vocals from another (evil) world.

Birdy from many different angles. Now who will be kind enough to get me a decent-sized scanner for Christmas?

When you reach this level of crust quality on one side of a record, you just have to make sure that the other side is solidly being taken care of as well. And in 1991, who could do the job better than Misery? No one. The English bands had all split up (even Doom had taken a break at that time), Nausea were on their last legs and Hiatus, Disrupt or Coitus hadn't reached their full potential yet. The only bands that might have been able to give SDS a run for their money were the Southern California ones like Mindrot, Apocalypse, A//Solution or Glycine Max, although, apart from Apocalypse, they were still in their infancy themselves and these crusty bands have never been very prolific (well, Mindrot eventually went full-on doom-metal and released some albums). Minneapolis' Misery, on the other hand, already had three Ep's and one Lp under their bullet belts. Not only were their previous records already excellent but they were undeniably getting better and better (they arguably reached their 90's apex with their next record, "Who's the fool?"). I have always felt that Misery never really got the credit they deserve: they are the only 25 years old crust band in the world that never stopped (even Doom took a few breaks), they have kept the same line-up (the original singer did leave the band to join Nausea but that was before Misery even released a record) and have retained their identity all the way throughout the years so that, even with the musical progression, you can always recognize their brand of heavy and groovy old-school crust in a heartbeat. Along with Extinction of Mankind, Misery embody the true crust punk spirit, one that has survived trends and fads.

Simply put, Misery is the best US crust band ever, not only because of their longevity, but because they took the Amebix sound and turned it into their very own, built on it, made it grow. "Pain in suffering" exemplifies what Misery were all about at that time. The bass guitar has a huge sound, like a distorted mechanical snake swirling around your ears. Their use of two guitars works in a complementary fashion, each with a distinct sound and direction so that, where too many bands use two guitars just to make one same riff heavier, Misery create a particularly gloomy but powerful atmosphere that feels heavy. When first confronted with their music, the listener might feel a bit confused, or even lost, amongst the different layers for the Misery sound is deceptively chaotic at first and it can take some time to really "get it". In a word, we are miles away from crude and direct crustcore as Misery is a world-creating band. Misery crustify with ease everything they touch. Their snotty sense of a good epics gives birth to heavy mid-tempo Amebix/Axegrinder type songs with monstrous riffs, but they also keep a punk-rock flair as well, keeping in mind the greatness of bands like GBH, English Dogs or late 80's Chaos UK, and, when you least expect it, they can nail you with an old-school death-metal number. The two singers don't function with the classic crusty trade-off pattern. Like the guitars, each voice has its fields of expertise: threateningly snotty on the brink of madness (also known as the Baron meets Colin from GBH at a cider-drinking contest) or gutturally back from the dead spokesman of the apocalypse. Misery's song-writing is intelligent because it doesn't restrict itself, it is not narrow, but at the same time it is always distinctively themselves. Misery are like a chef with his special spice. He can cook many different dishes and they will taste different but you will always know his cooking because of his special spice. They should have renamed themselves the Spice Boys or something.

The topics that Misery tackle in their lyrics are not circumscribed to the coming apocalypse or some imaginary, Bolt Thrower-inspired final war. Of course, and as their name suggests, it is not particularly happy stuff but there are a lot of different angles in the songs from the political to the personal. "Filth of mankind" (yes, that is where the great Polish band got their name from) is a song about waste and ecology and how the land is being polluted, sometimes irreparably, and how we remain apathetic, blinded by the lies of those who make sure that the capitalistic economy runs smoothly (for themselves obviously). "Reality leads to insanity" is a sad and hopeless look at our society, like an aimless walk in our streets, with dying homeless persons, kids who join gangs and die in their attempt to rise to the top, children suffering from parental abuse... Happy shit. "World of fear" is a song about alienation, confusion and how our mind is affected by the fear we are taught to feel. "Two worlds collide" tackles consumerism, the Western way of life in which one doesn't care about its social or ecological consequences until one gets cancer because of the shit we are led to swallow: "their profits become your death". "Screw you too" is more of a personal song about a lying arrogant bastard who is neither forgotten nor forgiven. Finally, "Total destruction" is about...well, I am pretty sure you already know! Punk words coming from punk hearts. Aesthetically, their side looks great, as usual should I add, since Misery have always had great artwork done for them. In that case, the drawing aptly illustrates the title of this record: "Pain in suffering".

A bloody brilliant record with two top notch bands in flawless flac format, originally released on Kyoto's MCR Company, it was the label's fiftieth record (49th was the Concrete Sox/Nightmare split Ep).

Painful future stay in the darkness fog of suffering

       
  

"Never again" compilation Ep 1996

Last week, I picked a rather unusual Finnish punk album, far from the kaaotic noise of the Propaganda legion. Today, however, I am back with a more classic-sounding record from Finland. "Never again" is an eight-band compilation Ep and was a benefit record for the German Autonome Antifas who were facing trials in 1996 and almost got labelled as a terrorist organization by the German state. Although I don't necessarily agree with everything that group had to say, their analysis of the links between capitalism and fascism, their opposition to class justice and their cool-looking helmets make them worthy of interest, without mentioning that they pioneered the black block tactics by using them systematically and rigirously during demonstrations and actions. But I am not here to talk about the merits, legacy or flaws of the German Antifas.

Terminal Sound Nuisance's French readers will undoubtedly know that already, but a few days ago, a (very) young student involved with a radical antifascist collective from Paris and its suburbs was beaten to death by neo-nazis. The kid was barely 19. Now, I am certainly no expert in antifascism, my knowledge is limited and I am sure that you will be able to find many enlightening comments about this murder elsewhere. Sadly, the far-right is on the rise, not only in France, but pretty much everywhere in Europe. The media (of the bourgeois kind if this even needs to be mentioned) were quick to fake their outrage at this assassination and to claim that this was unacceptable in our society and that the Nation, the Republic and our Great Democracy shall not tolerate extremist violence and so on. The very same media promoting and spreading far-right, capitalistic ideas on a daily basis. The very same media who bluntly claimed two days later that fascist violence and antifascist violence are  similar since they are the product of political "extremists". The sad thing is that many people seem to think that way, even in our punk circles. Although I don't condone all the tactics used by certain antifascist groups and I do find their approach narrow at times, it will never ever be comparable to fascist violence, and as much as I love old UK anarchopunk, I don't think that "violence is violence" all the time. Systematically equating violence with "extremism" or fascism or any other buzzword signifying evil completely discards the undrlying motivations and is mostly intellectual laziness. But I digress.

As mentioned earlier, this record was an antifascist record from the mid 90's and this theme runs through all the songs (as the cover subtly suggests). Apparently, it took three years for this record to see the light of day or rather the smoky and damp ceiling of a squatted venue. Each band added its own artwork and lyrics and there is even a (rather horribly disturbing) poster in the record. This sort of truly DIY endeavours always leaves a whiff of the 90's anarchopunk spirit that I always find inspiring. First we have Totuus, a band active from the mid 90's to the mid 00's and did three Ep's for Fight records. They played fast Finnish hardcore with distorted guitars, angry but distinguishable vocals and appropriately short songs. Nothing ground-breaking but undeniably potent. Next is Wind of Pain from Helsinki who, despite the Bastard reference did not play Japanese hardcore but crust punk in its rough and ready version as far as the present song, "Frightened by sirens", is concerned. Not the most original band but they had that typical 90's crust sound that I love so dearly, and would add in subsequent records some great crunchy metal riffs and a more polished production that gave them a cold, bleak but still really aggressive sound (to be stored in the "crust from the wood" category for sure). Here, the song is reminiscent of the mighty Hiatus and Warcollapse but also of Masskontroll, especially the guitar sound. Wind of Pain were active in the mid-late 90's and quite prolific: an Lp, a split tape with Disclose (now I got you interested, didn't I?), two Ep's and two split Ep's. There were members of Rytmihäiriö, Força Macabra, Kuolema and, later, the brilliant Sharpeville (if I am not mistaken). An often overlooked band that deserves to be (re)discovered.

Hiastus follow with a fantastic, albeit unoriginal, antinazi crustcore song with classic dual vocals (the legendary trade-off style: "screech and grunt") and a sloppy sound. They really remind me of Amen, who were the Finnish answer to Extreme Noise Terror, and that's a really good thing indeed. I don't know if their moniker was a tribute to Hiatus but if it were then I would love them even more for that! Hiastus also released a split Ep with Totuus. After this slice of unhealthy dreadlocked mayhem, there is a song from Tuomiopäivän Lapset (whom from now on and for obvious reasons, I will refer to as TL). I must confess that I don't much about them and apart from their split Ep with Disrupt, their large discography is unknown to me. They seem to have been quite active in the 90's (as early as 1991 in fact), had common members with noise-makers Sorto and, judging from the present track, played fast and furious hardcore with attitude, and yes, this is another antinazi song (a fitting theme for this Ep). Força Macabra are next and they are probably the most famous band on this Ep. I am hardly the FM expert but I got to see them live a couple of years ago and they were impressive and fun to watch. For those of you who don't know the band, FM is a 20 year old bunch of Finnish old-timers (some of them also involved in Selfish among many other bands) playing beefy, energetic and catchy Brazilian hardcore. In fact, they even sing in Portuguese, tour in Brazil regularly and have done splits with Armagedom and Ulster. The rumour has it that the lads can play football fairly well and are decent samba-dancers but I have yet to see to be convinced. Joking aside, FM is a good band, one that you can rely on in terms of fast and punchy hardcore punk with a good attitude. The song they included on "Never again" was recorded live and is a heavy mid-tempo number called "Cansado".

Fast, raw and angry are the key words for the next song by Kirous. Less than one minute of chaotic and noisy hardcore from a band with a decent resume (they did splits with Sharpeville and Silna Wola) that I unfortunately don't know well. Their musical influence sounds pretty local (especially the production) and "Unohdetto tottus" is about not giving the fascists the right to express themselves and how fascism always eventually serve the powerful. Good, no-frills punk here. Next is Ghost of Mankind and I have to admit that they had won me over even before I listened to their song: their name is taken from an Antisect song and they use the Icons of Filth font (I am a sentimental fool, I know). So, do Ghost of Mankind sound like the bands they are winking at? Not really but they are still very good in a Dirge-meet-Insurrection-at-a-Warfear-rehearsal kind of way. Nothing earth-shattering but it does the job: distorted guitars, chaotic drum beats, reverb on the vocals, filthy sound and punk as fuck atmosphere. Another antinazi song which happens to be the only known song of Ghost of Mankind. Finally, "Never again" closes with Uutuus, a band known for keeping the Kaaos spirit alive and kicking (and vomiting probably) in the 90's and this song will not disappoint. 48 seconds long, raw sound, spontaneous song-writing: pure punk-rock. Contrary to a lot of current bands who try hard to sound spontaneous (spot the oxymoron), Uutuus sound like they just went in the studio after a week-end on the boozer, recorded 10 song in 15 minutes before leaving for more booze.

A good compilation that lies on the raw and noisy side of punk-rock and a good political initiative as well. So, is it time for the volume 2?

Never again!                      

Painajainen "Vihan rytmi" Lp 2003

This Lp is a bit of a mystery to me and, to be honest, I am still unsure about the correct approach to adopt for this one. Contrary to some good mates of mine, my knowledge of Finnish punk is hardly encyclopedic. But I am fine with my limitation because, from my experience, the more you get in that genre, the nerdier you become and the more you try to speak Suomi (and let's face it, unless you are a Finn, it will be a long and sloppy stutter). This said, there have been some absolutely cracking bands there and their number never fails to amaze me. From here, it seems that all punk subgenres is well represented in the global Finnish punk scene. All but one, that is: there are almost no metal crust bands. You do have that excellent Absurd Attitude Ep (definitely one of the best Ep's of the genre in the 00's) and Wind of Pain did add some metal to their crustpunk (but then, as much as I like Wind of Pain, they never really had that filthy, dirty sound and apocalyptic atmosphere you would expect). To make things more complex, the only Finnish Lp that would fit in the "early CRUST" category was recorded in october of 1986, after Antisect's "Out from the void", Sacrilege's "Behind the realms of madness" and Amebix' "Arise!" but before Hellbastard or Deviated Instinct's first records (and around the same time as their first demos). A mystery, I told you!

From these observations, one may imagine two possibilities. Either Painajainen made their own blend of punk and metal, unaware of the English crust recipe of the time (not completely unlikely, as Painajainen originally played rather classic Finnish hardcore before taking the metal road, which was a fairly common thing in the early crust punk scene) but getting into metal nonetheless through bigger thrash metal bands or whoever; or, they were really into Antisect and Amebix to begin with and, upon hearing their new works, thought: "fuck me! That's fucking brilliant! We should write some songs like that, but with more echoes in the vocals and sung in Finnish!". Wherever the answer lies, one thing is for sure: "Vihan rytmi" is a tour de force. Although you could hear influences from aforementioned founding bands if you really wanted to, Painajainen managed to record an Lp that doesn't really sound like any other bands but still makes a lot of sense when seen as a crust (or even protocrust) record.

The sound of this Lp is strikingly good. While a lot of early crust records suffer from bad production and/or limited musicianship (but that's part of the genre, innit? Punks playing rough and angry metal), the sound here is excellent and focused. Not unlike "Arise!" (and sadly, unlike "Out from the void"), "Vihan rytmi" is well recorded, definitely not overproduced but exactly as it should be. The sound keeps that cloudy, mysty quality that can work so well for apocalyptic crust bands but remains very heavy and raw, in an almost organic fashion. Here, heaviness is not an objective or something to attain. Painajainen sound like they are effortlessly heavy. Heaviness as a second nature. The music is bass-driven and slightly distorted. The guitar has this dark and filthy metal texture but is not too low or heavy (it brings to mind Amebix or Nausea on this level). While not as well recorded as on "Arise!", the drumming is on a par with the other instruments and has this typical earthy crusty feel, it is a proper beat, almost anatomical. There are two singers here, both with a specific singing style (or it could be the same geezer doing both although it is terribly bad taste). You have the low, angry, aggressive and raucous voice (strongly reminiscent of the Greek Greats like Chaotic End, Forgotten Prophecy or Panikos) layered with a much more melodic and sung voice that sounds eerie, dramatic and a bit sad as well (Döm Dar is not too far off the picture). That's for the form.

Like a lot of the genre's early years, there are all kinds of tempos on this record. Whereas current bands fall too often in the "let's-play-like-BoltThrower-but-with-a-dbeat" trap, Painajainen ranges from fast and hard-hitting with a tasteful touch of double-bass drums to compelling tribal-sounding drumming patterns that point in the Amebix direction (yes, I earn 1 euro each time I mention them, so what? Times are tough, right?) or even postpunk bands. In that respect, the title of the album, which translates as "Rhythm of anger", is a fitting match to the breathing of the music. The riffs too have a rhythmic dimension, a sense of direction and never succumb to the cheesy metal temptation. You will, of course, find dirty and slimy guitar parts encrusted in these rythmic, epic, tribal riffs, both emphasizing each other (the same thing could actually be said about the vocals). Painajainen were clearly ahead of their time and one often has to use anarchonistic references in order to describe their sound. It brings to mind the epic world of Amebix, but also Panikos' song-writing, some of Nausea's slower moments, Misery's heavy and chaotic anger, Döm Dar's mid-tempo number, Hellbastard's snotty catchiness, Axegrinder's sense of impending doom... But for all the comparisons, there remains the fact that this is a, truly, unique Lp, one that you can recognize instantly and one that is able to escape easy and lazy comparisons (like I just did).

In the end, this is a fantastic Lp that should be up there with the crust canon and whose absence can only be explained with the year of its release: 2003 (sadly, the inserts were not included in my copy so I haven't been able to read the band's history and the lyrics yet so I am not sure if there was an original 80's pressing of this baby and Discogs seems to say that there wasn't one). Though recorded in 1986, it seems that it took 17 years for this record to see the light of day (dark of night would be more fitting). Three Finnish labels were involved in this epic endavour: well-known Fight Records (responsible for records from Kaaos, Riistetyt, Tampere SS or World Burns To Death), Zerga Records and Kämäset Levyt (tons of records released since 2000 from Diskelma, No Rest, Sotatila, 1981 and even Oi Polloi). The record comes in a gatefold with the first Ep included as well (I decided no to include it in the file). The music of Painajainen is the most beautiful nightmare I have ever had (witty me as "painajainen" means "nightmare"). The artwork however is closer to the worst ones I have had. I don't question the skills of the artist but let's say that I wouldn't have picked these colours. Sadly, in a world based on superficiality and where accurate yet empty references seem to prevail, an ugly cover will often mean that your record will be left to rot (a theory that doesn't apply to Japanese punk bands). But enough negativity and enjoy this original and hearty slice of CRUST.

   

   

        Rhythm of anger

Bastards Trained by Bastards "Natural" demo cdr 2003

In the punk underworld, Stoke-on-Trent is known for one thing: Discharge. In fact, it is rather surprising that the city council hasn't built a statue of the "Why?" line-up before the town hall. But Stoke is not a Discharge-only city either and the oddly-named Bastards Trained by Bastards happened to originate from this very place. BTBB were a short-lived band made up of members of other local punk bands, the always excellent anarcho punx Kismet HC, the thrashy Eggraid, the spiky Wounded Moose and Friends of Ken (which I have never heard). The myface page of BTBB says that the band formed in 2002, was pretty active in 2003, then pretty much stopped, then started again in 2007, never to be heard of again (to my knowledge). Pretty chaotic to say the least.

This cdr is BTBB's only output. It is basically a live recording of their second gig (on the 15th, March, 2003 after four rehearsals to be accurate) with the addition of one song that was recorded during their fifth rehearsal. I guess BTBB was more of a side-project, a way to have some fun and spread some political ideas, rather than a "serious" band meant to last long. I got this demo in a £1 box (or £2 box, I can't remember) at an Extinction of Mankind gig in Leeds, sometime in autumn 2003. The gig was put on by the Punktured collective (remember that Rape Crisis benefit cd) and someone had set a box with various records and zines that he or she wanted to get rid of. So I bought that particular cd as well as PUS' "Death from the skies". As you can see, this demo was crafted in true DIY fashion and you will notice that whoever did the artwork and the layout was just getting used to computers. Joking aside, I do like the Oi Polloish anarcho symbol a lot. Unfortunately, the lyrics are not included with the demo, which is a shame since the boys appeared to have a lot to say from what I read in an interview in Headwound from that time. As for the name, "Bastards trained by bastards" is actually a line taken from a Conflict song.

The sound on this cdr is surprisingly good. Despite it being a DIY live recording of a band's second gig, the sound is very clear, the band is quite tight and the first six songs are a perfect fit for a demo. Musically, we are definitely in 90's territory. Aus-Rotten (they cover "Fuck nazi sympathy" to great effect during the set) could be a good point of comparison here, as well as Conflict, Resist and Exist, Spite (for the more hardcore parts), Another Destructive System and Kismet HC (especially for that distinctive drumming style). They have a great song about Mark Barnsley, a working-class British anarchist who did 8 years because of a brawl in a pub involving a group of drunk students (obviously, the pigs were all too happy to nick him and left his assailants alone), one about animal rights and specism ("Natural?"), the "Obligatory war song" (yes, that's a Faction quote) called "War against war" and I am guessing "Social lobotomy" is about the our own passivity before oppression and how we are taught to be helpless and powerless (but since I cannot quite decipher the words that may be me wanting this song to be about that!). The last song was recorded during a rehearsal and is rough as fuck so be warned. It is a faster song with vocals of the high-pitched and yelled variety. In fact, the sound is so distorted, you could think it is a modern "rawpunk/noisepunk" band!

BTBB was a rather anecdotal band but there is an unmistakable energy and sincerity that make me choose to post this record (that and that annoying evil voice whispering in my ear). Beside, I like the fact that they cover "Fuck nazi sympathy" and ten years later, I think sadly we should start covering that song again. The far-right is on the rise everywhere in Europe (just take a look at the openly reactionary, nationalistic, homophobic demonstrations in France right now, Golden Dawn in Greece, bloody serial killers in Norway, the EDL in Britain and on and on and on). The bastards are organized     and disciplined (which, given their fascination with order and hierarchy, is hardly overwhelming news) and while I know that writing antifascist punk songs is not going to stop them, it can still, potentially, make us think about what we can do about that. Aus-Rotten wrote this song because of the complacency they saw around them. Not caring is not gonna cut it.  

Bastards Trained by Bastards Trained by Bastards Trained by Bastards